Alexandra Quick's seventh grade year
Alexandra Quick completed her seventh-grade year at Charmbridge Academy from September of 2007 to June of 2008. Summer Vacation Due to her parents' work schedules, Alex was enrolled in Vacation Bible School at Larkin Mills Baptist Church, where she paid little attention and took no part in the school's religious rituals. Alex managed to behave herself until the final week, when the topic of witchcraft came up; Amy Gavello inquired after the Bible's take on witches, and one of her teachers cited Exodus 22:18, claiming that "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." When Davan MacLeod bragged during lunch about shooting stray cats and crows with his air gun, Alex turned everyone's food rancid before leaving and walking home. Alex was grounded for the incident, and spent the time in her room with Charlie until her stepfather allowed her to go to the Larkin Mills Mall while her mother was at work. At the Mall, Alex bought underwear and socks from a store where she then found Bonnie Seabury shoplifting. Alex stopped Bonnie, who replaced the items, before Brian Seabury approached the two along with Billy Boggleston and Tom. Billy mocked Alex, and Tom snatched away her bag, which contained her wand; before Tom could feel with the bag, though, a mannequin grabbed him by the arm, and he dropped the bag. Billy and Tom left the store, and Brian pulled Bonnie away from Alex, who was then approached by Diana Grimm, who had transfigured the mannequin. Grimm took Alex to lunch, inquiring after her father, and giving her another business card to replace Hucksteen's. Alex later took the Charmbridge Academy Bus to the Goblin Market to purchase school supplies, and met up with her classmates Anna Chu, David Washington, Angelique Devereaux, Constance and Forbearance Pritchard, and Darla Dearborn. In the cafeteria at Grundy's, she first saw the exchange students from Blacksburg Magery Institute, including Martin Nguyen, who publicly insulted Darla after they had met on an Aurora Borealis cruise over the summer. Fall Semester Junior Regimental Officers Corps Upon returning to Charmbridge, Alex saw Anna's first run-in with Tomo Matsuzaka, and later learned that the BMI students would be spending the year at the Academy as part of an exchange program. Alex eventually chose Magical Ecology as her seventh-grade elective, but was disappointed to find that she would not be learning about dragons, basilisks, minotaurs, sea serpents, or giant spiders. She later learned about the cultural conflict between Anna and Tomo when she found Anna recovering from a Nail-Pulling Jinx, and later disarmed both girls when they came to blows in the hallway. During the ensuing fight, Alex was restrained by Maximilian King, while Beatrice Hawthorne restrained Tomo and Professor Shirtliffe restrained Anna. Dean Grimm placed Chu, Matsuzaka and Alex on probation for the semester, while Alex and Chu were also assigned to join the Junior Regimental Officer Corps. Alex also earned an additional week of detention for insolence, and served under the new groundskeeper, Libby Gale. Upon enrolling in the JROC, Alex and Chu's seventh-grade electives were changed to Practical Magical Exercise, and they reported for training. They were given JROC uniforms and a rigorous training/drilling schedule that quickly began to take a toll on Anna, while Alex resolved to endure her JROC training without complaint. Halfway through September, Charlie returned to Alex and Anna's room with what appeared to be a coin bearing a crow, stamped "MMS," and printed along its edge with a warning: "if this coin be stolen, a Thief's Curse be upon you!" Mors Mortis Society Alex theorized that the coin was related to the Mors Mortis Society, and her friends advised her to discard ir or turn it over to the faculty; Alex did neither, and two weeks later, the coin emitted an electrical jolt, at which point Alex discovered that that images on its front and back had changed. When she resolved to ask Dearborn and Devereaux about the meaning of the new symbols that had appeared, she discovered that both of her suitemates had similar coins, which gave directions to future meetings of the Mors Mortis Society. The following Sunday, Alex wandered the Academy until nearly midnight, at which point the coin directed her into the Charmbridge basements where she encountered Torvald Krogstad and Stuart Cortlandt, also on their way to the meeting; the three found the location, signing a secrecy contract with a Blood Quill before entering, and found Dearborn, Devereaux, Matsuzaka and King in attendance. During the meeting, Quick witnessed an elder student summon a spirit from the Lands Beyond through a portal. After the meeting, she was emphatically instructed by King to stay away from the Society. King proceeded to become even harder on Quick and Anna both during JROC drills and exercises, singling them out for critique. Not long after, Alex's coin changed again, indicating that the next Society meeting would be held on "Venus Rising". King later assigned Quick and Chu to another Saturday inspection during which Anna and Alex were instructed on complex wand and broom drills. Alex wound up racing King through the forest surrounding the Academy, and crashed into a tree as a result, breaking his wrist, collarbone, and arm in two places, as well as suffering a concussion. She was delivered to the infirmary where Mrs. Murphy administered a dose of Skele-Gro, and Professor Shirtliffe later questioned Alex about the incident. That night after dinner, Alex was visited by Bran and Poe, and requested that they bring her books on astronomy to pass the time. She then discovered that Venus would be a "rising sign" at midnight on the following Tuesday. Anna, David, and the Pritchards visited her in the infirmary, and Alex learned that King had been demoted for being party to her injuries. Alex was released from the infirmary later that day with her arm in a sling; that next Tuesday, she followed the directions on her coin into the labyrinthine attics of the Academy, where she ran across Matsuzaka. Alex warned the sixth-grader that if Tomo hexed Anna again, Alex would "turn her inside out," and the two proceeded to the meeting location. Winter Vacation Spring Semester Visit to Roanoke The Lands Below Return Class Schedule Alexandra initially signed up for a Magical Ecology elective with Mr. Fledgefield, but this was changed to Practical Magical Exercise when she was forced to join the JROC. She continued to take PME in the Fall semester, when she decided to remain in the JROC. * Charms I (Mr. Newton) * Transfiguration I (Mr. Hobbes) * Alchemy I (Mr. Grue) * Basic Magical Theory (Miss Hart) * Wizarding Social Studies (Mrs. Middle) A2